Instead, both Biden and the Fed chose the worst of both worlds. Upon entering office, Biden authorized another $1.2 trillion in more spending and took a number of measures to strangle supply. By shutting down domestic oil pipelines and drilling, Biden drove oil prices, so cheap just a year ago that their futures went negative , to record highs. His public health experts made the idiotic error of pausing the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine , a move that markedly decelerated the vaccine rollout. They then imposed a recommendation of indoor mask guidance based on bogus data , further undermining confidence in the vaccine and, thus, comfort with returning to regular work and commerce. All the while, onerous restrictions, including the administration’s questionable vaccine mandate, contributed to the labor shortage that worsened the supply chain shortage. Just a month before Christmas, goods wait in logjammed harbors suffering understaffing and a lack of trucks to transit them once they finally make it to shore.

Theoretically independent of the White House, the newly renominated Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has committed to refusing to raise interest rates even as inflation hits over 6% from this point last year. Even with 4% nominal increases in wages, the average person is seeing a significant cut in real inflation-adjusted wages.

Powell could raise interest rates tomorrow and powerfully suppress further inflation, and Biden could remove his regulations ranging from clean energy to vaccines, immediately driving down oil prices and boosting supply across the board. But three problems would remain intractable.